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Bought me some wheels

Posted May 24, 2015 10:03PM by Skye in the Cycling Forum
Bought me some wheels
#1
CX Gear Road

Skye
Skye Skye Nott
@TheStaminist   5880115
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 542

Scored a couple of wheelset deals on eBay this weekend. Buying used is always a bit of a crap shoot but you save so much money I think it's worth the risk. I can't remember the last time I bought something that was in worse condition than the seller described. There is a ton of great equipment out there that is barely used, and thanks to 11 speed, the 10 speed stuff I'm looking for is "obsolete". Got both wheelsets below with tires and matching skewers for $800 shipped.

Shimano Dura-Ace 7850 SL

These are for the Trek 5200 road bike I'm currently building from scratch (see this topic for more info). Scandium alloy rim and titanium freehub body with a listed weight of just 1514g. Road Tubeless ready (nice!) and angular contact bearings. Rim width 15mm. Straight pull 16 stainless bladed spokes front & 20 spokes rear, red aluminum nipples which I think look pretty cool. I like the finish on the hubs too - that polished alloy look, not chrome. Continental Grand Prix 4000 and 3000 tires, probably 23mm. Top of the line wheelset in 2010 and got really good reviews. Cost including tires about $1250 new.

HED Ardennes LT Tubular

My first tubulars! These are 23mm C2 rims, bladed Sapim spokes 18 straight pull front & 24 J-bend rear, sonic hubs. Currently shod with Challenge Grifo XS hardpack gravel tubulars (file tread and very small side knobbies) plus an extra unused tire. Looking forward to giving them a go on the Felt F1X and see how they feel on the dirt and grass compared to my Bontrager CX0 clinchers.

Not sure how much use I'll get out of the Grifo XS tread pattern around here, look like they would be good for summer riding but won't offer much grip during the wet cross season. Weight is about the same as the clinchers, 1517g claimed, because HED apparently built the tubular wheels to be stronger for racing conditions. Cost including tires $1200 new.

(HED still sells this wheelset so I guess it must be pretty well liked)

Webmaster - Staminist.com

Attachments

Dura Ace 7850 SL closeup.jpg 36 KB open | download
Dura Ace 7850 SL closeup.jpg
Dura Ace 7850 SL rear hub.JPG 64.6 KB open | download
Dura Ace 7850 SL rear hub.JPG
HED Ardennes LT Tubular Grifo XS.JPG 71.9 KB open | download
HED Ardennes LT Tubular Grifo XS.JPG
Challenge Grifo XS Cyclocross Tire White.jpg 50.6 KB open | download
Challenge Grifo XS Cyclocross Tire White.jpg

slacker
slacker toboggan victorious
@komradepow   6151114
Location: Whistler
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 34

You rock eBay, Skye. I can never find anything that is in good condition or isn't more expensive than I can get new from the likes of Wiggle.

— beatz: http://djtobias.com
— tweetz: @komradepow


Skye
Skye Skye Nott
@TheStaminist   5880115
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 542

Drove down to Blaine yesterday to pick up the wheels - I have big items sent to the border to save hundreds on shipping. The wheelsets look great, but the front tubular isn't holding air, I found a tiny sharp rock stuck in the tread. Luckily these tubulars have removable core valve stems, so I'm going to go get a bottle of Bontrager Sealsafe (the glycol-based stuff that doesn't dry out) from BSP and inject some of that, it will probably fix the pinhole leak and give some protection down the road. Looks like these these Grifo XS use latex tubes and the injectable sealant seems to work even better with latex vs butyl tubes.

Webmaster - Staminist.com

Skye
Skye Skye Nott
@TheStaminist   5880115
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 542

Injected 2oz of the Bontrager Sealsafe ethelyne glycol based sealant last night and it plugged the pinhole leak pretty much instantly. Application was super easy so I put 2oz in the rear tire too. Hell of a lot easier than removing, unstitching, patching, re-stitching, and re-gluing the tubular although I guess that would be a good skill to learn at some point. Found a clear applicator tube and a schrader valve core remover under the cap of the Sealsafe bottle, that's a nice touch. Seems like Bontrager might have discontinued this product though. Now I just need to pick up a 10 speed cassette and take these tubs for a spin around the park.

This has a lot of useful info: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Things_that_Roll/Tires/Tire_Sealants_2765.html

Webmaster - Staminist.com

Attachments

removing presta valve core.jpg 61.3 KB open | download
removing presta valve core.jpg
injecting glycol tire tube sealant.jpg 76.8 KB open | download
injecting glycol tire tube sealant.jpg

slacker
slacker toboggan victorious
@komradepow   6151114
Location: Whistler
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 34

Totally jealous on the Ardennes.

Shimano Dura-Ace 7850 SL — what is the difference here with Dura-Ace C24s other than fairing depth (C35s etc)?

I'd love Dura-Ace but won't buy any new rims unless they are at least 23mm rim width. The current Shimano C24/C35 offerings are 20.9mm which was fine 5 years ago, but when running 25mm tires no longer makes much sense. (Also frustratingly they only offer the C50 and larger wheels with a wider rim — )

I have Flos incoming... ! Will report back when they ship in.

— beatz: http://djtobias.com
— tweetz: @komradepow


Skye
Skye Skye Nott
@TheStaminist   5880115
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Joined: 9 years ago   Posts: 542

The DA 7850 SL's I bought aren't bonded carbon/alloy composite, they are straight up Scandium alloy rim. I guess that would be the main difference to the newer Cxx wheels.

Webmaster - Staminist.com
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